Just to give credit this idea was kind of stolen from John Lovell. I like guns I like a variety of different guns. After being into guns for a few years I had a few different handgun manufacturers in my safe a few. S&W’s. a Glock,Ruger. I had several magazines for each gun. One day my wife says she is ready to learn how to safety handle a firearm. Im so happy this day has come 
so i say ok go get the glock mags out of the safe and she couldn’t tell one brands mag from the other 
and it got me to thinking am I protector or a collector. Is me having so many different handguns ie collecting putting my wife at a disadvantage she dont want to know alot about guns just how to safety use one. Well i got rid of all my hand guns except the Glock 19 and bought a few more Glock 19’s so now no matter magazine she grabs it will fit the gun she grabs.STOP BUYING different Guns - YouTube
A very good perspective. I, being 64 and fighting cancer, decided much the same thing… but the avenue I took was, I have my primary EDC (Ruger SR9) and for secondary EDC S&W 9EZ , For her, she has the Ruger EC9s as her primary (until she gets her wardrobe built up for CC), and eventually a S&W 9EZ will become her EDC. All 9mm so there is no caliber confusion and magazines color coded. She has her speed safe and I have mine… And of course, training continues,
I guess I missed the point maybe. Why cannot a person be both?
I have a collection of guns for a variety of reasons, but the ones we use for self defense are all similar enough that the wife could operate and those are the ones we practice with on family “range days.”
All our self defense guns are stored “hot” so there is there wouldn’t be a reason to grab a magazine since it’s already in the pistol. (the collection is in another location)
No my self defense gun stays loaded and with me as stated my wife is just now learning. So no she can’t tell the difference between a S&W mag or glock mag and why would she need a extra mag? Maybe for the same reason we all might need one to clear a malfunction
I have a few gun’s, but I do not think of myself as a collector. Each one was bought over the years for reasons unknown now. But I do not own a Glock. Most are S & W-M & P’s like one of each in Semi Auto. Originally before the sub compact’s all of the Glock’s were too big for my small hands.
I do understand some of the reasoning. However, I am very much both, and so is my wife. We both shoot competitively (3gun), and she certainly does not need me. She reloads her own ammo, and cleans her own guns.
I think you can do both, however standardize on one platform like you did is not a bad idea. For us, we use different platforms due to different likes and needs. My wife can run my stuff just as well too. No she does not, she is an only child. 
I love the color coding idea for those who are new to shooting - or even those who have shot a lot. It’s an efficient solution - especially in a high stress situation in the worst case scenario!
It all started with a replica Navy pistol. I cleaned it up and restyled it. Then there was the 30-30 stamped with 1895 on it. I just cleaned it up to keep it in shooting condition. Then the next and the next and so forth. Self-defense guns are a whole other thing. I shoot my collection but, I train with my self-defense. Collection is in one place and the self-defense is always close by or on me.
Dawn, has not even worked with Shotgun shells yet… LOL I can say that most 20ga are yellow, but 12ga is all over the map. Perhaps with the newer polymer cases they could do that?
That was my Sweathearts idea. She started with and qualified with a S&W LCR 9mm revolver-easy peasy … then she decided she needed to learn pistols and now loves them (she is, however, emotionally attached to her LCR). I Love that woman.
A bit of both but weighted very heavily towards the protector.
I think we all eventually turn into both. However for new gun owners finding a good EDC gun then acquiring training would be much more beneficial then acquiring more guns youre familiar with with but not proficient.
I wish I’d gone down the training road much sooner than I have
I follow the same procedures, there’s absolutely no confusion with mags or weapons, if we are training, pull a weapon from the safe and mags marked in blue, if we are going out or traveling, pull a weapon and any mag marked in red.
100% agree with that thought process sir.
Absolutely agree with everything everyone is saying. I myself have always just used them to hunt and protect and CC. But I could easily become both lol. Cause dang I just love guns lol.
A bit of both. I’ve bought a gun for collectability, but I still have my EDC/home defense guns. The collectibles are for fun, and don’t always go to the range every time I go. I also don’t worry as much about keeping 40-40, or 45 ACP as stocked up as my 40 S&W, or 38 special for the Boss
Numerically I am certainly more of a collector than a protector to about a factor of 20 to 1. That being said my collectables are just that, there is some bleed over in the M1A and AR platforms as well as some of the COMBLOC rifles (AK, SKS etc) My SD & HD guns are just that and they see more range time than the collectables by a factor of 1,000 to 0ne. There is no way I’m going to reach for my 30-40 Krag Rifle over my AR but should that eventuality occur it has 100+ rounds and a 100 yard zero with a dope card out to 500 yards (or at least a reasonable range, a 30 Carbine only goes so far). As a matter of fact ALL my collectables do other than the ones I haven’t gotten to yet (there are more than I’d like to admit) or those that have serious ammo availability issues like a 45 Smith Carbine or 7.7 Jap. I am not as heavily invested in pistols as I am rifles so there are more shooters than hangers in that vein. Even if I get all the collectable pistols I want there will probably be more shooters than hangers. So I am both with a significant separation between church and state.
Cheers,
Craig6
I agree with the general point of his argument but I have no problem with myself or anyone who wants to own other brands or different manual of arms doing so if they desire.
With that being said I do believe in standardizing the firearms that are in use. For example, I am a DA/SA guy, so the guns I train with are my P229 and P226, same action and function just different barrel sizes. Different mags but I don’t care about that, ones in use and ones not, I don’t have any fantasies about running to the safe or something similar to grab a second pistol, for that matter I’d be grabbing the rifle…
My wife carries a P365 so she trains exclusively with it or the X-Carry, so she’s standardized as well. But if it ever hit the fan and she had to grab one of my classic Sigs you better believe she can run it.
At the end of the day it comes down to how much you train and what you train with as well as your overall level of proficiency. But I don’t believe in locking ourselves solely into one particular platform, part of the joy of shooting is variety. We just can’t relax on training with our self defense weapons and we must stay proficient.
JL would probably call me a “collector” but I have never purchased a defense gun just because of its brand. I find what best fits the purpose, which means I have multiple brands. I keep the guns and mags together so there wouldn’t be a chance to confuse them. The question does have me thinking I should prove the point. I think the family and I shoot often enough to know which mag goes to which gun. I am going to test the first available kid with a mag and see how they do 